Subaru, Seishirou and the Hokkaido Getaway
by fantasticallyrandom
Summary: Sumeragi Subaru's work takes him to the far northern island of Hokkaido. Naturally, Hokuto and Seishirou insist on accompanying him. The resulting high jinks are typical of any Tokyo Babylon story.
1. Chapter One

Xandra (xandrabelle@hotmail.com) and Midorino Mizu (midorinomizu@yahoo.com) present Subaru, Seishirou and the Hokkaido Getaway

Disclaimer: Subaru, Seishirou and Hokuto are all the property of CLAMP, which was a sad fate for them, because they suffered a lot. But we don't own them and we're not profiting from them, so please, direct all praise to CLAMP for creating such wonderful characters.

Summary: Sumeragi Subaru's work takes him to the far northern island of Hokkaido. Naturally, Hokuto and Seishirou insist on accompanying him. The resulting high jinks are typical of any Tokyo Babylon story.   

Chapter 1

Sumeragi Subaru loved the quiet days. He just didn't get them very often. And today was no exception.

The day had begun peacefully for one reason only-- Hokuto had overslept.  So Subaru woke up, quietly dressed in one of his favorite winter-weather outfits, and made his own breakfast. Then he got his twin up so she could rush to her classes at CLAMP Campus.

He skipped again, because he had a job.

It was fairly straightforward, and no problems arose with it, so by lunchtime he was done and headed back to CLAMP Campus to pick Hokuto up for lunch. His grandmother had left him a message on his pager, but Subaru figured he could easily return the call when they got to Seishirou-san's office for their lunch.

That was a mistake.

"Yes, Grandmother." That was what he found himself saying over and over when he found the time to call her.

Hokuto scowled at the corner where Subaru was bowing to thin air, and then sighed and continued to set the plates. She rarely overslept, preferring instead to greet life with as much energy as possible, but this morning she had slept in, and it meant she'd had no time to make breakfast...or find the time to force her brother back into his bedroom to change into a far more fashionable outfit (or so she considered). Fortunately, she'd made lunch for three the night before, and packed it neatly into a huge bento box, which Subaru had obligingly picked up from their apartment before he met her.

Now her younger brother was standing in a corner of the room, talking with their grandmother for the past half hour, and virtually ignoring poor Sei-chan.

Really, did she have to do all the work?

However, just as she turned to berate her brother for spending excessive time on his Clan duties, and not telling their Grandmother that enough was enough and he needed to eat lunch, four words tumbled out of Subaru's mouth that made her green eyes widen and gleam.

"The job's in Hokkaido?!"

The young thirteenth head of the Sumeragi clan had no idea his twin had perked up or he would have been alarmed. He was listening far too intently to the details his grandmother was giving him. A job to Japan's northern island was unusual and would require him to be absent from Tokyo for a while. That meant that either it was very important, or the people requesting his aid were well connected and powerful. It was how things usually worked.

"Yes, of course," he said,  "I understand, Grandmother," he continued, bowing to her non-existent form one last time before bidding her goodbye and hanging up.

After scribbling all the details down, Subaru tore the uppermost sheet of paper from the borrowed notepad and turned around. Two pairs of expectant eyes forced him to take a step back. There was something in their expression that was so similar—almost as if they were plotting identical mischief. He'd believe it of his sister, but not of Seishirou-san… 

"I have a new job," he explained lamely.

The reply from his sister made him cringe further back, from the sheer volume of her excitement. 

"What is this about Hokkaido?" Hokuto exclaimed as she bounced up and down with impatience. 

Sakurazuka Seishirou smiled warmly, showing his interest. "Yes, tell us about it, Subaru-kun. I hope you're not going to leave us?" he asked smoothly, his voice full of concern.

Subaru gulped. "U-uh, well, Seishirou-san," Oh, this was going to be difficult.  Not only did Hokuto have that frighteningly recognizable gleam in her eye, but Seishirou was now _looking_ at him in that particular way... the way that made his heart flutter just a tiny bit.

They were not going to let him alone until he told them everything.

With a deep sigh, Subaru dropped down in a chair and stared at the onigiri packed into a star shape in Hokuto's lunch box.  "I have a job," he repeated listlessly. "It's in the Mt. Asahi region of Hokkaido."  Desperately he tried to think of ways to forestall Hokuto's inevitable insistence that she should go along.

"They've claimed some kind of spiritual phenomena at a resort area, but grandmother believes that foul play is involved." He pinned his sister and Seishirou-san with a desperately sincere look and tried to pre-empt them. "It's really too dangerous a situation for me to bring you along."

He should have known it was no use. The gleam in Hokuto's eyes only increased. "I'm certain that you can solve it, Subaru.  After all," she said, with an appropriately dramatic pause. "You are Japan's Most Powerful Onmyouji!

"I'll have to come along, of course," she continued quickly. "You forget to eat during the best of circumstances; I can only imagine what this would do to you." She smiled slyly at Seishirou, who winked surreptitiously back at her. "Sei-chan, you can come along, right?  I'd be so lonely if I had to wait for Subaru all day long by myself.  And I'm sure my little brother would be so depressed if you were far away from each other."

"Neesan!" squeaked Subaru in protest. "I'm sure Seishirou-san's much too busy…"

"Oh, on the contrary," drawled Seishirou with a bright smile. "I've been meaning to take a vacation and Hokkaido in winter sounds ideal."

Subaru sighed, knowing he was fighting a losing battle. He could never prevail against the two of them. The strange thing was that he didn't mind. He was too fond of both his sister and his friend to deny them anything. Besides, he was secretly glad they were coming. By nature, he was a quiet teenager, and he'd been unable to stop his heart from thumping nervously when his grandmother told him about this job. It was always good to go to a faraway place with people he could count on.

"Yo-You really want to come with me? It might not be safe," Subaru stammered, trying to discourage them one last time.

Hokuto waved the concern off, making a scoffing noise. 

Seishirou though, stood up and walked over to Subaru. Laying a hand on his shoulder, he smiled benignly at him, saying, "If it's not safe, then I definitely will have to come with you. Otherwise I'd never forgive myself if the love of my life needed me and I wasn't there!" 

The young onmyouji was unable to find an appropriate answer to that. He blushed crimson and stammered. "I-I-I…"  Seishirou couldn't possibly be referring to him as the love of his life--it was impossible! Subaru firmly convinced himself that his friend had a strange sense of humor and merely enjoyed teasing him far too much.

Seishirou took that as consent. "Then it's settled. Tell us more about what the situation is about? Why do they need you in Hokkaido?" he asked, while giving Subaru a mug of tea with his free hand.  
"Yeah, Subaru!" cheered Hokuto. "It wouldn't do for Sei-chan and I to be left in the dark!"

She loaded a plate full of food and shoved it at her brother. Hokuto was always concerned for her brother's health, even in her most excited moments. "Eat. And explain."

To pacify his sister, Subaru took a large bite out of one of the rice balls, chewed and swallowed, and then slowly started to speak.

"In the Mt. Asahi area, there are several onsen, but only one modern ski resort.  It's fairly new, only open a couple of seasons, but it's been immensely popular so far.

"However, when it opened for the winter season last month, it started experiencing… problems."

"What kind of problems?" Seishirou interjected smoothly. "You're obviously not talking about the financial sort."

"N-no. The problems have been rather varied, actually. Some of the employees and guests have claimed to see ghosts, and there have been several near accidents on the ski slopes."

"So why," piped Hokuto as she sipped her tea, "does Grandmother think that there's foul play involved?  It sounds a lot like a regular haunting situation and a simple exorcism that you've done lots of times before."

"Well, Hokuto-chan," explained Seishirou. "The key is in the variety.  Spirits tend to haunt one rather contained space, or if they move around, they're keyed to an object.  It's very unusual that a genuine phenomenon would act widely around a resort and mountain area like this.

"Particularly," he added, "Since the resort opened over some rather vehement protests.  But I'm sure that Subaru-kun will be able to get to the bottom of this.  He's so talented, after all." That last was said with a genuine appreciative smile.

"Yes," added Hokuto. "He is. But don't worry, Sei-chan, I'm sure that he loves you anyway, even if you are a normal veterinarian."

"Do you think so?" asked Seishirou, his face a cast of hope.

"Oh, yes.  I'm definitely sure that he'll make you a wonderful wife."

Subaru ducked his head over his plate to hide his bright red cheeks.  He'd failed to dissuade them from coming, but he wasn't entirely surprised.  Hokuto rarely let go once she got an idea in her head.

Still, Seishirou would be there, so maybe she wouldn't get in too much trouble, trying to keep on eye on him. 

Then again, he thought as they started debating on what color kimono he should wear to his eventual wedding, Seishirou-san's presence might end up making things more difficult.

The young onmyouji turned his attention to his lunch, eating with a fierce concentration. Sometimes he wanted to tell them that he was right there, when they were discussing him, but he was afraid that it would only make things worse. Besides, it looked like they were having far too much fun to stop, even if he asked it of them—not that he would of course. Deny it though he might, deep inside, he loved the camaraderie that they'd fallen into. So he stayed silent and let their happy chatter warm his heart. 

Notes: 

An _onsen_ is a hot springs spa. We're not sure if there's really a ski resort at Mt Asahi, but well tourist websites of the area recommending skiing activities, so its very likely there's one. 

Subaru is being unmercifully teased in this fic, but it's exactly how we love Tokyo Babylon, so we're not sorry at all. ^__^

Oh yes, this story should be set in the early tankubons of Tokyo Babylon, probably as early as just after _Babel_, although the season doesn't quite fit, but we're taking some creative license here.

Xandra's fics can be found at Butterfly Dreams () 

And Mizu's fics can be found at shadow-truths

()


	2. Chapter Two

Xandra (xandrabelle@hotmail.com) and Midorino Mizu (midorinomizu@yahoo.com) present Subaru, Seishirou and the Hokkaido Getaway

Disclaimer: Subaru, Seishirou and Hokuto are all the property of CLAMP, which was a sad fate for them, because they suffered a lot. But we don't own them and we're not profiting from them, so please, direct all praise to CLAMP for creating such wonderful characters.

Summary: Sumeragi Subaru's work takes him to the far northern island of Hokkaido. Naturally, Hokuto and Seishirou insist on accompanying him. The resulting high jinks are typical of any Tokyo Babylon story.   

Chapter 2

The next day found the trio at the train station, getting ready to board the bullet train that would bring them to Hokkaido. The previous afternoon had been spent in a scramble of making plans, booking tickets and informing all the relevant parties to expect them. Now, Subaru was glad to relax and look forward to the trip. He rarely traveled beyond Tokyo or Kyoto and he couldn't help growing more excited at the prospect of visiting a new place. 

"Hokuto-chan," Subaru said futilely once more. "Are you sure we need bring quite so much stuff along with us?" He pointed to the small mountain of luggage piled on the platform that belonged to just the two of them. "This is just supposed to be a short trip!" 

"Of course we need it all! It's cold weather up there, we'll need to layer the clothing."

"She has a point," said an amused voice from behind him. Subaru spun around to see Seishirou, dressed for the cold Hokkaido climate.

He was wearing a thick black wool overcoat over a charcoal gray suit.  Over his shoulder, he had one single bag.

"If we need," Subaru counted the suitcases. "Eight bags for a four day trip, why does Seishirou-san only need one?"

"Sei-chan," Hokuto said with admirable dignity, "Is an older man.  As such, he can get away with a simpler wardrobe. However, to appear truly stylish, people of our age require any number of accessories."

Subaru blinked. Her excuse seemed valid, but he knew that if he thought long enough about it, he'd find a hole there somewhere.

"Oh, Sei-chan! Wait until you see the outfit I made for Subaru!  It's guaranteed to take your breath away.  I'm just lucky I could get my hands on the faux mink on such short notice!"

Subaru resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Hokuto had spent the entire night sewing that particular outfit despite his reminder for her to get enough rest. It consisted of black suede pants and matching boots, a ribbed turtleneck, and a long red wool coat. He didn't object to that.

He wasn't so sure about the fur around the collar and hem, or the elaborate black lace she had trimming his gloves.

"Hokuto-chan," he muttered. "We're going to miss the train."

"He's right, Hokuto. We don't want to miss out on all those tremendous skiing opportunities.  I look forward to seeing Subaru-kun's athletic prowess."

Subaru turned cherry red, and yanked his hat down over his face, before dashing onto the train. He could hear Hokuto's distinctive laughter trailing behind him.

By the time his companions managed to get their luggage taken care of and joined him in the train compartment, Subaru had regained his composure. He smiled when Seishirou sat down beside him, slinging his coat on an empty seat before them. Hokuto had disappeared into the restroom, though not without a teasing call for the two of them to behave themselves.

"Are you nervous about having to travel so far away?" Seishirou asked, smiling in his usual kind and quiet manner. He was really quite different when Hokuto wasn't around.

That brought an answering smile from Subaru. Somehow, his friend always knew his insecurities and fears, even when he himself had a hard time putting them into words. "Yes, a little," he admitted. "I know it's silly and I should be excited to have a chance to see new things, and I am, excited that is, but…" He broke off there, not sure how to word his feelings.

Seishirou merely nodded, immediately understanding. "Everyone always likes familiar things best, and it's comfortable when you're around places and things that you know. So while you're excited about seeing new things, leaving the familiar place behind makes you sad," the older man said sagely. 

"Besides, Subaru-kun, you love Tokyo, don't you? So leaving it makes you distressed. It's quite natural." He leaned over and patted a gloved hand reassuringly. 

The heat inescapably rose in Subaru's cheeks as he nodded, appreciating the kind gesture but also unable to cope with the intimacy. He turned his head to stare out the window.  They were just leaving Tokyo Station, and the familiar buildings and people seemed to rush past his sight.

However, once the train sped up there was nothing to be seen except a blur outside the window. The city was soon out of sight, and he found himself staring out at the green of the Kanto plain.  It reminded him of when he and Hokuto had first moved to Tokyo.

He remembered being a little nervous and sad then too, because he'd also loved Kyoto. But he wasn't left to follow that thought for too long.

"Sei-chan!" squealed an indignant female voice. "Are you letting Subaru mope?!  You should know better than that. You don't want a depressed boyfriend, do you?"

"Oh, but Hokuto-chan, your brother looks so cute when he's pensive," answered Seishirou, his face lifted to hers with a warm smile.

"Well," she huffed, "I suppose that's true, but it's not any real excuse. I may have to withdraw my approval of your relationship should this continue."

Seishirou held a hand theatrically to his heart. "You would separate me from my true love?  Sumeragi Hokuto-san, you have a cold heart."

Hokuto stuck her nose determinedly up in the air.  "What good are soft feelings if you'll only break my darling brother's heart?"

Subaru determinedly forced himself to stare out, absently wondering if a book would serve to distract him from the others' antics.

Naturally, that didn't go unnoticed. Seishirou smiled, and his amber eyes glinted.  He leaned close to the Sumeragi head and murmured, "I'm sure Subaru-kun knows that I would rather throw myself from the train then see him harmed."

Subaru turned tomato-red and let out a horrified squeak, returning his attention to his friend. His sister started laughing again.

"Well, then, Sei-chan, your dear future sister-in-law will have to withdraw her objections.  I can't stand in the way of such obviously passionate emotions, can I?"

Subaru thanked his lucky stars that they had the small compartment of the train all to themselves. Nothing the two of them did should surprise him, but every time that he was teased, he couldn't stop himself from blushing. It _had_ to be teasing, hadn't it? There was no possibility Seishirou-san had passionate feelings for him. 

This time, as always, Subaru responded with an outraged "Neesan!" which prompted a loud cackle of laughter from his twin. 

Seishirou seemed to take pity on his discomfiture and stood up, asking Hokuto casually if she wanted anything to eat or drink. That prompted the female Sumeragi to list a whole catalogue of stuff that she wanted. 

"Are you sure you can eat all that?" Seishirou asked, good-naturedly. "A girl has to watch her figure." He started laughing as she chased him in outrage from the cabin, though Subaru could tell she wasn't particularly upset about the insult.  

Subaru shook his head with a smile, and stared out the window again. The two of them would never change, but Subaru wasn't really sure he'd want them to. Their incessant teasing made him feel a part of a group, and that was special for him.

Except for Hokuto-chan, he'd always felt distanced from everyone else. Perhaps it was his position, perhaps his occupation—he didn't know. It just made him feel very lonely at times. Until Seishirou-san came into his life…

"Good," Hokuto was saying. "You're smiling again. Why on earth were you looking sad for anyway?  This is an adventure! Embrace it!"

Subaru smiled at his sister. "I was just remembering when we moved from Kyoto to Tokyo, Hokuto-chan."

"Yes," Hokuto said, nodding, "I remember that.  No one wanted you to go. The Clan was fine with me going to Tokyo to attend classes at CLAMP Campus, it was certainly prestigious enough, but they were nervous about you going too.

"I never could figure out why," she mused.  "I mean, if CLAMP Campus is a prestigious place for the Clan Head's sister to attend, why not the Clan Head himself?"

"I imagine they were worried," said Seishirou with a smile as he reappeared, carrying a huge tray of junk food.  "After all, Subaru-kun is a young Clan Head, and Tokyo is reputed to be a very dangerous city, filled with perverts." At that, he gave Subaru a wink and a wry grin.

The young man merely shook his head, refusing to accept Seishirou's provocation.

After handing Hokuto her share, Seishirou picked an orange off the tray and tossed it to Subaru.  "Here, I brought you something too, Subaru-kun.  I wouldn't want you to waste away on this long trip."

Subaru caught the orange deftly and murmured a protest. But at a look from Seishirou, he quieted and began to peel the fruit. He did have to be reminded to eat far too often. That prompted him to smile gratefully at the other man. After nibbling on it for a bit, he ventured a question. 

"Seishirou-san, can you ski?" he asked. He was curious about Seishirou's ability. His friend had always seemed the perfect urban dweller. It was hard even to picture him in anything other than a suit. It was hard for Subaru to think of him in a traditional yukata, let alone in skis.

Seishirou nodded calmly. "I have some small ability," he said. "Although I'm sure I'm not as good as you or Hokuto-chan. You've both had lessons since you were young, I'm sure."

"Oh ho, ho, ho, ho!" Hokuto laughed. "Subaru has probably forgotten how to ski properly. It's been years since he had a vacation!" She took a gulp of her soda before brightly perking up with a new suggestion. "Sei-chan, you can give him lessons!" 

"If my Subaru-kun needs me, I shall certainly do my best! I wouldn't want him to hurt himself," Seishirou bantered back with a broad smile. 

Subaru quickly waved his hands in negation. "I'm sure I won't have time for such things. I'm going there to work!" he protested. 

"Subaru!" said Hokuto, crossing her arms.  "You are going to work at a ski resort! Of course, you'll be skiing!"

Subaru eyed her doubtfully. "I don't really think so…"

"Didn't you say that there were strange occurrences on the slopes, as well?" interjected Seishirou smoothly. "The job may very well require your skiing abilities, then." He smiled blindingly at the male Sumeragi. "Hokuto-chan and I will be glad to assist you in any way we can."

Subaru ducked his head, and muttered, "I was afraid of that."

"Subaru!" shrieked Hokuto, her arms akimbo as she loomed over her brother in mock fury.

The Sumeragi Head raised his hands in defense and raised again the old argument. "I just don't want either of you to get hurt!  If someone is playing tricks out on the ski slopes, then it could be very dangerous for the two of you!"

Hokuto merely snorted in response, but Seishirou gave him a very serious look.

"Then it could be very dangerous for you as well, Subaru-kun." He forestalled the Sumeragi's interruption by raising a hand. "We're both very glad that we're important to you, Subaru-kun.

"But don't forget that you're important to us, too."

It was such a sweet sentiment that Subaru was robbed of a suitable response. How could he reply to that? His wide green eyes though, told Seishirou everything – from the gratitude he felt, to the almost hero worship he was about to fully succumb to for the man. 

Hokuto shot a sly glance at the two of them before giving way to her laughter. "The two of you together are just too adorable! I want to take some pictures!" She rummaged into her bag for a camera and began to prepare to snap. "Sei-chan, put your arms around Subaru. Show me how you mean to keep him safe!" she directed.

Subaru blushed hotly when Seishirou did as he was told. The other man's breath tickled his ear when he bent down closely. The arm around his shoulder practically burned with warmth through the smooth fabric of his shirt. However, he didn't even have time to squirm before Hokuto snapped the picture. Before he knew it, Seishirou had released him and was back to smiling benignly at him. He was sure he would have a peculiar panicked look in his eyes when the picture was produced.

"Seishirou-san! Neesan!" he exclaimed flustered. 

Seishirou smiled down at Subaru.  'I'll want a copy of that, Hokuto."

"Of course," she said cheerfully. "I'll frame it so you can put it next to your wedding picture!"

"Neesan," Subaru groaned as he buried his head in his hands.  

Seishirou chuckled.  "I think we've teased your brother enough for today, Hokuto-chan.  Besides," he added, looking pointedly out the window. "It's getting dark, and the train will roll into Sapporo very early tomorrow. Then we have a car trip before we get to the resort.

"So we should all get some rest."

Subaru took the opportunity to reseat himself. "Erm, I'll just take a rest now," he said. He must have sounded more tired than he thought. His announcement was met with instant concern.

"You should rest too, Hokuto-chan," Seishirou said. However, he made no move to help the girl settle down; instead leaning over Subaru's seat and helping him release the lever to lower the back. Naturally, the action prompted another bout of blushing from Subaru, when Seishirou's hand brushed against Subaru's.

"Good night, Subaru," Seishirou said kindly, brushing a few stray strands of hair from the teenager's forehead. 

"G-Good night, Seishirou-san.  Neesan." Subaru replied, quickly closing his eyes.  He was a little tired, though not enough to fall asleep. Traveling didn't usually exhaust him the way it seemed to exhaust everyone else.

But it was just easier to close his eyes. Everything seemed gentler in the dark.

This time though, he had no trouble drifting off. In practically no time, the male Sumeragi fell asleep to the murmuring voices of his twin sister and Seishirou-san, and the sound of the wheels running along the tracks as the train sped north.

He didn't stir, several hours later, when a hand brushed gently across his brow or when a deep voice murmured into his ear.

Notes:

Ah yes, not much going on except for the Tokyo Babylon trio interacting in the way that we all know and love. We will be getting the plot moving in the next chapter, promise. ^__^.  Kudos goes to Krystal Rose for betaing this for us.

Xandra's fics can be found at Butterfly Dreams () 

And Mizu's fics can be found at shadow-truths

()


	3. Chapter Three

Xandra (xandrabelle@hotmail.com) and Midorino Mizu (midorinomizu@yahoo.com) present Subaru, Seishirou and the Hokkaido Getaway

Disclaimer: Subaru, Seishirou and Hokuto are all the property of CLAMP, which was a sad fate for them, because they suffered a lot. But we don't own them and we're not profiting from them, so please, direct all praise to CLAMP for creating such wonderful characters.

Summary: Sumeragi Subaru's work takes him to the far northern island of Hokkaido. Naturally, Hokuto and Seishirou insist on accompanying him. The resulting high jinks are typical of any Tokyo Babylon story.   

Chapter 3

The three arrived at the hotel after a quiet drive from Sapporo to Mt. Asahi. Hokuto-chan hadn't been at her best in the morning for the past several weeks, so she kept her chatter to a minimum, and instead spent the trip gazing out the window, nervously keeping an eye on the edge of the road falling sharply away down the side. Neither Subaru nor Seishirou seemed to notice as they conversed quietly in the front seat.

The scenery spanning the narrow road leading them to the resort was breathtaking. Lush tall pines swaying in the gentle breeze pressed close as they drove up the road, slowly winding up the sides of the mountain until suddenly there was no further for them to go and the resort and its nearby village stretched out before them in every direction. Gazing up, Subaru gawked at the intense spread of white powder snow that blanketed the peak before them, broken only by the lines of skylifts slanting upwards.

The trio unloaded from the car and made their way inside the open doors of the hotel. The fresh mountain air seemed to revitalize the elder Sumeragi twin and she was back in form, which meant immediately embarking on her favorite pastime-- making her little brother blush and stammer.

The resort manager himself quickly hurried out to meet the three travelers. "Ah, Sumeragi-sama," he said, bowing deeply after they introduced themselves. "I am both honored and grateful that you have come to Hokkaido on my behalf. I trust the trip was uneventful?"

Subaru bowed back before nodding. "It was, thank you. And thank you for providing accommodations for me and my companions."

"It was nothing.  It is an honor to have the Sumeragi clan head here."  The middle-aged man paused, and tried not to look too conspicuously at the trio.  "I must confess, however, that your grandmother only stipulated two rooms. Will it be all right for us to place you in a two-room suite?" He was tactfully referring to the fact that Seishirou was quite obviously not related to them.

Subaru turned bright red when he heard his sister's distinctive snickers behind him.  "Quite," he squeaked. He was sure he could trust Seishirou-san, even with his life. It was however, a difficult situation to explain to a stranger. "If you could show us to the rooms, please?  I'd like to get started with the investigation as soon as possible." And maybe, he thought, he could rush Hokuto into their suite before she saw fit to embarrass him further.

No such luck.

"Now, Sei-chan," caroled Hokuto when she entered the suite and noted the opposing doors leading from the sitting room.  "I will be sharing a room with Subaru.  We wouldn't want to you to compromise Subaru's virtue in a fit of passion, now would we?"

"Hokuto-chan!  I would never dream of doing such a thing."  Seishirou sounded shocked, and Subaru hoped that maybe that would be the end of it. The next words out of Hokuto's mouth proved it was a false hope.

"I'm determined to wait until the wedding night," Seishirou said, entirely matter-of-factly.

The Sumeragi visibly winced and peeked up at their host, whose face was schooled into polite calmness-- if one ignored the rather wild look he had in his eyes.

"I will meet you downstairs in an hour, Ebisawa-san, if that's acceptable," Subaru gritted out with as much dignity as he could muster.

The manager started and gulped as if remembering to breathe.  "C-Certainly, Sumeragi-sama.  I'll be waiting at the front desk."

The young Sumeragi heaved a sigh of relief when the man departed, shutting the door behind himself. He paused for a moment, taking in the lavish furnishings in the sitting room. It was certainly something befitting a Sumeragi clan leader, not that he had ever particularly cared about the material trappings, of course. They could have squashed him into a tiny broom closet and he wouldn't have protested. Hokuto was always telling him he should be more aware of his consequence but somehow he never thought much of it, until confronted by the treatment other people gave him. 

Hokuto popped out of one door, apparently having explored it to her heart's content. "It looks like nothing but the best for Japan's best onmyouji," she declared, echoing his thoughts. She strode over to a set of large full-length doors opening out to a balcony. Flinging open the doors, she stepped out, ignoring the freezing draft she was letting into the room. 

"Come on out here, Subaru," she called. "The view is fantastic!"

Subaru followed her instruction and joined her outside. She was right. It was a picture perfect postcard before him. He took in a deep breath of the clear fresh mountain air, drinking in the sight of the craggy peak and the white slopes, reflecting the slanting afternoon sun in glistening splendor. So lost was he in the beauty of the scene, that he barely noticed when Seishirou came up beside him.

"What do you think of when you see the mountain, Subaru-kun?" The warmth of Seishirou's breath brushing near his ear startled him back to reality. 

"I think it's powerful and glorious. People are so small when compared to it," Subaru said, turning to gaze at his friend. He wanted to see Seishirou's reaction to the magnificence of the mountain. Would he be as affected as Subaru was? The young teenager was disappointed to observe nothing more than bland interest in his expression. "Don't you find it beautiful, Seishirou-san?" 

"Oh, of course, Subaru-kun." Seishirou said, a faint smile gracing his lips as he bowed his head down to look at Subaru. After a moment gazing deeply into Subaru's eyes, he straightened back up and paused to consider the scenery again. "It's very beautiful, but so unchanging. It doesn't grow.

"I think that things that grow and change as they age are far more impressive and far more beautiful, don't you?" he elaborated.

That velvet tone of this voice implied something Subaru didn't quite understand, but the sheer suggestiveness of it made Subaru redden as he lifted his eyes to meet Seishirou's amber ones now returned to gaze steadily upon him. "S-Seishirou-san?"

They both heard a familiar click from behind them and whirled as one to Hokuto, who was holding her camera again. "Another picture for the album!" she cheered.

"Hokuto-chan," groaned Subaru.

"But never mind that, Subaru. You'll have time to admire the view later tonight. You have to help me unpack now, before you meet Ebisawa-san again!"

Seishirou watched with a small smile as Hokuto yanked her twin away. He continued to fix his eyes in their direction until the door closed behind them; then he turned around to regard the wintry scenery again.

He'd felt no spiritual presence here, so he was inclined to believe that Subaru's grandmother was correct in her assumptions.  He wasn't surprised; the Twelfth Head had always been an intelligent woman. 

_Just not talented enough to save her grandson from him._

In any case, Seishirou mused, he might have to…involve himself, professionally, in this particular situation. Someone was skewing the natural balance of magic in this area.

_Such action practically required the intervention of the Sakurazukamori. _

***

No matter what Subaru did, clients always looked at him strangely when he first met with them. It had to do with his age, he supposed. One did not expect a powerful onmyouji to look as young as he did. He didn't once consider that his striking features were also responsible for much of the attention that he got.

"So Ebisawa-san, tell me a bit more about what sort of bad things have been happening around here? And why do you think it's supernatural?" he asked. It was always good to let the client tell his story. Even if a lot of what they said was extraneous, he preferred to work with as much information as possible.

The young Sumeragi settled back in his chair in Ebisawa-san's office to listen. Hokuto had opted to investigate the souvenir shops, so Subaru was left with Seishirou, who calmly introduced himself as Subaru's assistant. Subaru had blushed at that, knowing that if his grandmother knew, she would give him a severe talking to about involving civilians with his work. Fortunately, their host didn't comment, in fact seeming more assured at the presence of an older man, and bowed politely before beginning his tale.

"It took many years to build this resort. My corporation funded it with the awareness that there was support from the local people. When this place was finished, many people began to visit. We managed to hire many of the local people for our staff and this area's economy began to boom. 

"I had thought that everything was going smoothly, until the strange incidents began to happen," Ebisawa said, his voice growing strained. He paused and lifted a cup of tea to his lips, as if wishing to put off telling Subaru about such unpleasant things.

Subaru waited politely for him to continue, his gloved hands folded in his lap, his face a study of mild encouragement. He'd cultivated infinite patience for such matters. 

"It started out small. Little things began to go wrong. This is normal for a resort of this size and we have a good number of staff dedicated to servicing the machines to make sure that everything goes smoothly. Guests do not like being inconvenienced," he said stating the obvious. He shook his head as if any malfunction was a slight upon his abilities before continuing.

"But it was strange. My mechanics would report that machines they replaced with brand new parts were breaking down almost immediately before their eyes. And stranger still, the parts wouldn't… stick. They said they were flying right off their hinges. However, most of us running the place just thought it was wild stories from a few slackers and didn't think it was anything to worry about.

"After a while, it began to become more serious. People began to report more injuries. None of the guests were hurt, which was a good thing, but it was always the staff and the local people. They would sprain their ankles, complaining of being pushed when no one was there. Stuff like that…" he broke off, once more shaking his head. Subaru was growing concerned for the state of Ebisawa-san's neck muscles. He was going to give himself an injury if he kept that up.

After sighing resignedly, he resumed his story. "Then it got really bad."

Once more he paused. The two onmyouji waited for Ebisawa to continue, but when he merely stared into his tea for several long minutes, Seishirou tried gently prompting him.

"How did it get worse, Ebisawa-san?"

The manager glanced up into the veterinarian's sincere amber eyes before flicking his gaze over to the concerned face of the Sumeragi Head. He took a deep breath.

"One of our attractions is that we are not simply a ski resort, we also have guides that take groups of tourists up Asahi. Deguchi Maiko is one of our best. She's grown up here, and spent her childhood climbing the mountain.  

"Last week, she fell."

"Fell?" Subaru's voice was stricken.

"Yes.  The police say that she must have lost her footing, but I find that unlikely.  I spoke to her. She said she wasn't on a particularly dangerous part of the mountain, and the weather had been dry for weeks; there was no way someone of her experience would have slipped. And," he said, lowering his head, "she had been complaining for weeks to me about hearing something behind her.

"I think she was pushed, but there was no one behind her, all of our guests were already off the mountain."  

"Were there any other incidents?"

The manager nodded reluctantly. "It was the incident in the ballroom that made us sure that it was all supernatural in cause."

At Subaru's earnest nod, he continued. "There was going to be a wedding. The day before, several of the staff were inside the ballroom, making final preparations and decorating it. That's when it happened. Everyone there swore that something had caused the chandelier to fall. Several staff members were injured by the falling glass." 

Ebisawa Junichiro looked up at Subaru and pleaded. "Please help me, Sumeragi-sama. I don't want anyone else to be hurt."

Subaru gave the manager a reassuring smile.  "Of course I'll help, Ebisawa-san.  No one else should be hurt by this."

The interview was obviously over. Subaru got up and pulled his coat around him. It was one of Hokuto-chan's creations and he was grateful for how warm she had managed to make it. 

Seishirou smiled at him, following him out of the room. "So Subaru-kun, let's investigate."

To which, the Sumeragi nodded his silent assent. He was going to get to the bottom of all this. 

Notes: 

We never said the plot was going to unfold all at once, did we?

We'll have more, please do keep reading if you enjoyed this story so far.

Xandra's fics can be found at Butterfly Dreams () 

And Mizu's fics can be found at shadow-truths

()


	4. Chapter Four

Xandra (xandrabelle@hotmail.com) and Midorino Mizu (midorinomizu@yahoo.com) present Subaru, Seishirou and the Hokkaido Getaway

Disclaimer: Subaru, Seishirou and Hokuto are all the property of CLAMP, which was a sad fate for them, because they suffered a lot. But we don't own them and we're not profiting from them, so please, direct all praise to CLAMP for creating such wonderful characters.

Summary: Sumeragi Subaru's work takes him to the far northern island of Hokkaido. Naturally, Hokuto and Seishirou insist on accompanying him. The resulting high jinks are typical of any Tokyo Babylon story.   

Chapter 4

In Sumeragi Hokuto's opinion, the best part about traveling was being able to shop somewhere else than her usual shopping haunts.

She had already conquered the small village's three souvenir shops, emerged laden with bags and was about to venture into a fabric shop that had some exquisite looking wool on display when she stopped cold in her tracks.

There was a man sitting cross-legged on the sidewalk. He had medium brown hair pulled back into a ponytail, his eyes focused on the sketchpad on his lap.

"What are you doing?" Hokuto asked curiously. It was another one of the things liked to do-- talk to interesting people.

The artist's dark brown eyes rose to the teenager's face. There was something so engaging in that bright and happy expression that he couldn't help answering. "Just sketching," he said, returning her smile. "I'm Ajibana Naosuke."

"Sumeragi Hokuto." She leaned down and peeked at the charcoal drawing he'd been working on.  It was a street scene, showing all the storefronts and all the people who were wandering around…and some who weren't actually there. 

"What's this?" she asked, pointing to a strange figure in the sketch.

Ajibana looked to where her polished, slender finger indicated.  "Well, that's a ghost, Sumeragi-san." His tone was one of humoring a child.

Hokuto was unrepressed by it. "Why did you draw her?" Hokuto inquired.

The artist shrugged elegantly.  "I don't know. But she might be there, and that's enough for me."  He flashed the pretty girl a smile. "Would you like this picture as a souvenir of your trip here?"

"Sure," said Hokuto with an answering grin.  "Then I can show it to my brother and Sei-chan when I get back to the hotel."

"Oh," said Ajibana flatly as he tore the sheet from his pad. He made a face at the mention of the resort, but said nothing further.

"Don't you like the resort, then?" asked Hokuto perceptively as she carefully took the picture he handed her and tucked it away. She didn't know why, but it seemed to her that Ajibana was a troubled young man. All her instincts, and they were well-honed, screamed at her to help.

"I suppose it's very helpful for the local economy," said Ajibana, with a negligent shrug.  "But…I used to have such a beautiful sight to wake up to in the morning. The mountain inspired me to create.

"Now, all I have to look at are the ski slopes. You have to understand," he said, bitterly.  "I don't find them quite as inspiring."

Hokuto thought about it from the artist's perspective and nodded slowly.  "I can understand that," she said. Then her green eyes sparkled at him, and she smiled.  "If you're as wonderful an artist as I know you are, you will be able to find something else to inspire you."

Ajibana just shook his head stubbornly.

Watching him for a while longer, she decided to say, "It's not what you paint that matters but where you paint from. As long as you have your heart engaged, it'll be all right." It sounded trite, but it was the best she could do. 

"I have to go," she added after glancing at her watch. She thought Subaru would be done and waiting for her by now. It was unlikely that her twin would get into any interesting situations with Seishirou, but she wanted to be there to see it if it happened. With that thought in mind, she bade the artist goodbye and bounced down the street, the fabric shop forgotten in her hurry to return to the resort and be with her twin.

Ajibana Naosuke stood up, placed his charcoal pencil in its box, and stowed his sketchpad in his bag. "It's not quite so easy as that, Sumeragi-san," he murmured bitterly as he gazed after Hokuto. "Things like that are elusive."

Unknown to him, Hokuto's thoughts turned to the artist on her return to the resort. She wondered if there was any way she could have encouraged him better. Flinging the doors to their suite open, she entered to see her brother in their sitting room, quietly conversing with Seishirou. 

Dumping her packages down to the floor, she lightly skipped over and swept both her twin and Seishirou into hugs. Her brother was looking worried, probably about the work, she guessed. Subaru took his work far too seriously, she thought.

 "Subaru, don't frown so much. You'll get wrinkles and Sei-chan won't love you anymore!" she said, sliding easily into teasing mode. 

Predictably, there was an answering laugh from Seishirou. "I would care for Subaru-kun, no matter what he looked like. But it is an added bonus that he's so cute," said Seishirou, wearing his usual broad grin.

After listening to Subaru stammer and blush his way to an answer for a few moments, Hokuto decided to let him off the hook. At least she had succeeded in distracting him from his worries.

"I had a great time today," she informed them. "This place is beautiful. And there was so much to buy!" She fully expected the two to recognize that the measure of a place was in the shopping opportunities. However, she didn't think the guys would fully understand her glee over acquiring things, though Seishirou often displayed a surprising ability to appreciate a bargain. She opened her bags and started taking out some of her purchases to show off. 

Digging a bit deeper, her fingers encountered the sketch she'd been given. "Oh, take a look at this," she said, spreading the picture open. "Isn't it beautiful? It's so well drawn." She handed the picture over to Seishirou, who laid it on a table. 

"It's beautifully rendered," he murmured.  Something caught his eye immediately even though he didn't know why. "But who is this?" 

"Hmm?" inquired Hokuto as she poked her head over his shoulder to see what he was pointing to. "Oh, that's a ghost." She knew that wouldn't surprise her brother or Seishirou, being rather common things to their experience.

"A ghost?" echoed Subaru, walking over to the other two and sat down on the sofa between them. "Where's a ghost?"

"Right there."  Hokuto jabbed her finger at a slight figure leaning against a lamppost.

Everything else in the drawing, everything that was of the living world, was drawn in bold clear lines, but the ghost was faint and smudged, and not just from where Hokuto's finger had touched it.  The artist had made an effort to make it appear less tangible than the rest of the scene.

It was, Subaru thought as he stared at the picture, a pretty, young girl.  She wore a patterned dress, and he could practically see it floating around her when she moved. The picture was amazingly life-like and struck a chord within him. Whoever the artist was, he was good.

"She looks sad," he whispered.

Seishirou smiled at the young man next to him and smiled.  Subaru's heart was in his eyes, and the honest regret in them made him even more beautiful then he usually was.  He laid an arm across the onmyouji's shoulders.

"The artist knows, then, doesn't he, Subaru-kun?" Seishirou gazed steadily into the Sumeragi's brilliant green eyes. "A spirit that wanders the world is rarely a happy one, because they're meant to go on."

Subaru smiled tremulously, and nodded. "Yes, Seishirou-san."

"Subaru!" Hokuto squealed and squeezed her brother around the waist.  "You're so lucky; you'll have such a wise husband!"

"H-H-Hokuto-chan!" said Subaru, shifting his eyes to his sister and blushing furiously.

"Well, you will!"

Seishirou shook his head slightly at the delightful image of the two twins cuddled about each other before turning back to the drawing.  There was something about it he didn't like.

It felt like power, and he was sure that the power didn't come from the inert object before him.

No, he was certain that the power was from the artist.

He trailed a fingertip along the jagged edge of the paper and a slightly predatory smile lit his face.

Something would have to be done about that.

He turned to Hokuto, regretfully interrupting the twins, still to-ing and fro-ing over Subaru's love life with him. "Hokuto-chan, can I meet this artist? It's such a beautiful drawing and I'd like to tell him that. And if I'm very lucky, perhaps he'd take a commission to draw me a picture of Subaru-kun," he said, his eyes twinkling behind his glasses.

"S-S-Seishirou-san!" Subaru gasped.

Seishirou's smile was innocent but it held all the determination of a runaway boulder rolling down a slope. As if there was any possibility of Subaru's protests swaying him from his decisions…

On her part, Hokuto had launched into another bout of happy squeals. She bounced up and proclaimed she'd lead them to the artist immediately. Seishirou's lover-like sentiment to have her brother immortalized in portraiture appealed to her immensely. 

But first, Subaru had to change. 

Grabbing Subaru's hand, she dragged him into the bedroom and proceeded to force him to wear something more to her satisfaction.

Re-emerging sometime later, clad in the outfit that Hokuto had worked on so carefully for him on the night prior to their trip, Subaru stammered his apologies. "I'm sorry you had to wait, Seishirou-san." 

Looking at him, Seishirou had to admit to himself that the wait was well worth it.

Subaru was wearing a long crimson coat, his best color in Seishirou's opinion.  In deference to the cold weather, Hokuto had trimmed the jacket with faux mink, and the fur was nearly as dark as Subaru's hair. It was just too bad that silky crown of hair was covered under a black fur Cossack hat.

The hat, Seishirou reflected, would have looked absolutely ridiculous on any other teenager, but Subaru managed to carry it off.  It was covered entirely in the same faux mink that decorated the Sumeragi's coat, and was pulled down over his ears.  Only the barest fringe of bangs peeked out from under it.

The rest of the outfit was just as striking.  Under the brilliantly colored coat, Subaru wore one of his close-fitting black turtlenecks, and a pair of tight black pants.

Seishirou fancied that he could see a strip of pale skin where the hem of the turtleneck didn't quite meet the tops of his pants, before Subaru hastily pulled the edges of his coat together. 

Seishirou's gleaming amber eyes met with Hokuto's knowing green ones.  "I must compliment you on your skills, as usual, Hokuto-chan."

Hokuto gave her brother an appraising smile.  "Yes, he does wear this one particularly well, doesn't he?  I must have been inspired."

"My Subaru-kun always looks spectacular in red," affirmed Seishirou.  "I have to insist that his kimono be in that shade for our wedding."

"Oh, of course, Sei-chan.  We want Subaru to look his best. Don't we Subaru?" she called to her brother.

Subaru just covered his face with his hands and let out a heartfelt groan.

He was experienced enough now to know that there was no reasoning with the two of them.

Notes:

How could we have a Tokyo Babylon fic without some pretty clothes for Subaru? Well there you go, a pretty red jacket. Xandra would like to note that she actually has a long red coat with black faux fur trim, which she doesn't get to wear very often but loves anyway. ^__^

Xandra's fics can be found at Butterfly Dreams () 

And Mizu's fics can be found at shadow-truths

()


	5. Chapter Five

Xandra (xandrabelle@hotmail.com) and Midorino Mizu (midorinomizu@yahoo.com) present Subaru, Seishirou and the Hokkaido Getaway

Disclaimer: Subaru, Seishirou and Hokuto are all the property of CLAMP, which was a sad fate for them, because they suffered a lot. But we don't own them and we're not profiting from them, so please, direct all praise to CLAMP for creating such wonderful characters.

Summary: Sumeragi Subaru's work takes him to the far northern island of Hokkaido. Naturally, Hokuto and Seishirou insist on accompanying him. The resulting high jinks are typical of any Tokyo Babylon story.   

Chapter 5 

The crisp weather of the day had turned cold and windy after the sunset. Both Hokuto and Subaru trembled in the piercing draft as they walked down the lamp-lit street. Seishirou as usual appeared unaffected, dressed in his dark, long overcoat. He appeared a virtual shadow, looming by the side of the brightly attired Subaru.

"I didn't realize it was so late," muttered Hokuto with some concern as she noticed the sparseness of people on the village street. "Ajibana-san has probably gone home, and I don't have his home address."

"Perhaps we should go back to the hotel, then?" inquired Subaru.  He looked around the main street of the small town. It was deserted in a way that Tokyo never ever was, in a way that not even Kyoto had ever been.

He hadn't realized, before, the impact of always living in cities.  He wasn't used to walking at night and being the only one around. Subaru shivered from a combination of the cold and the unaccustomed solitude.

His companion appeared to understand his unease, although if he shared it, he gave no sign.

"The sun sets quickly this far north, particularly this time of year," said Seishirou with a smile and reached over to pat Subaru reassuringly on the back. "It's actually still quite early, Hokuto-chan."

"But I'm sure Ajibana-san would have drawn such a beautiful picture of Subaru-chan for you, Sei-chan!" the female Sumeragi twin chirped, trying to keep her spirits up in the face of the gloomy atmosphere.

"Of course he would."  Seishirou smiled down at the young Sumeragi Head.  "Any likeness of my dear Subaru-kun could not help but be beautiful."

Subaru turned red and started to stutter out a response, when an older woman interrupted them.

"Excuse me, but did you say you were looking for Ajibana Naosuke-san?"

"Yes!" said Hokuto with a mixture of delight and relief that someone was willing to offer directions.  "Can you tell us where to find him?"

Subaru let his breath out silently, glad that his sister was distracted, and stepped back to allow her to get the information she wanted. Sometimes, he wished he could be as assertive as Hokuto-chan, but it wasn't the way he'd been made, and he had long since come to terms with that.

But he was glad, he thought with a smile, that he could be around someone who wasn't afraid of grabbing what she wanted, someone so vivacious and outgoing.

Subaru's musings were brought to a sudden halt when he felt something behind him.  He turned his head quickly.

His first thought was that she looked lonely.

His second was that she looked familiar.

She stood just behind him, with one hand pressed to the lamppost.  Her hair was long and black and trailed to her waist, and she wore a beautiful flowing dress of violet silk.

Then she was gone, so quickly that Subaru almost doubted that he had seen her in the first place.

"Well," Seishirou murmured into the younger onmyouji's ear.  "That was certainly interesting, wasn't it, Subaru-kun?"

"It wasn't a ghost," the Sumeragi said definitely. "It didn't feel like one."

"I agree. But just what was it then?"

"I'm not sure," Subaru replied.

Hokuto bounced up behind them. "Good news!  I got Ajibana-san's address!"  She frowned when she saw her brother's serious expression, what she generally referred to as his "business face."  "Did something happen?  What did I miss?"

Seishirou smiled down at the teenaged girl, his expression his usual cheerful innocence. "Nothing of importance, Hokuto-chan."

"Sei-chan!" she shrieked.  "Are you keeping things from your future sister-in-law?  There should be no secrets between us!"

"I would never dream of keeping anything important from you, Hokuto-chan."

Subaru ignored the light bickering Seishirou-san and Hokuto were indulging in, and concentrated instead on what he'd seen. It had to fit in with what was happening.

But he couldn't figure it out. He was certain that he was forgetting something. He was so preoccupied with thinking about the situation that he missed the sly sidelong glance Seishirou directed at him.

"Shall we return to the hotel?" Seishirou asked.

The protest was instant. "No, it's not late at all! It's only 5. We still have time to visit Ajibana-san. He doesn't live very far away," Hokuto said, overriding all Subaru's protests that they shouldn't bother the artist. Her earlier disquiet about being out in such a quiet place was forgotten. She hastily grabbed his arm and started dragging him away.

"Sei-chan could get him started on a commission for Subaru and we'll have the piece ready when we have to leave Hokkaido!" 

Since Hokuto was a force all in herself, the trio were soon on their way again. Thankfully, it wasn't a far walk before they stopped in front of a house at the edge of town. It was small and whitewashed in that quaint picture postcard way. However once they were up close, they could see that it was obviously in a rundown condition, with the roof in shambles and the walls slightly moldy, as if the owner had more things to do than fix up his home. 

Seishirou stepped forward and rapped neatly on the knocker.

"Who is it?" a face peeped out as the wooden door swung open. 

Hokuto bounced on the balls of her feet and waved. "Ajibana-san, it's me! I've brought my brother and Sei-chan to see you. They love your sketch. Can we come in, please?" she called, flashing him with her perky smile.

Apparently, Ajibana proved no different from any other man when confronted with that bright green-eyed eagerness combined with that beautiful smile. The lethal combination had opened many doors before and it opened this one today.

After Subaru was ushered into the sitting room and introduced, he looked about the place and noticed an assortment of oils hung around. Canvases were stacked up against the wall, some painted, some unfinished and others blank. He wandered over to a small stack of thick watercolor paper to take a closer look at the sketches. 

He only caught a glimpse of the top one before he was practically bowled over by the artist. Ajibana rushed past him and scooped them up with an 'excuse me' before tucking them carefully away. The artist bowed apologetically. "I'm so sorry for the mess. What can I do for you?"

Subaru blinked owlishly at him, and then turned to his sister. He had discovered long ago that in terms of normal social interaction it was always best to defer to Hokuto-chan. She was just so much better at it even though when pressed, he could do very well with people, one on one.

"Subaru and Sei-chan were very impressed with your talent."  Hokuto's eyes sparkled winsomely as she gestured at two of her favorite people.  "They admired your sketch so much they wanted to compliment you personally."

Ajibana blushed red from the praise and started stammering. It was as if he was unused to any acclaim. "T-Thank you.  But it wasn't necessary to come all this way.  I would have been out in front of that store drawing again tomorrow."

"We felt it necessary to compliment you immediately," Seishirou informed him, speaking for the first time. "Also, I wanted to ask if you would be interested in a commission."

"A commission?" inquired the artist with some doubt.

"Yes."  Seishirou's smile was just a touch wicked as he let his gaze fall on the young Sumeragi Head.  "He needs to be immortalized on canvas, don't you think?"

Any reply Ajibana Naosuke might have made was interrupted by Subaru's heartfelt groan.  "Seishirou-san!"

Really, did Seishirou always have to be so outrageous? And before strangers at that!

Ajibana, after blinking for a moment out of perplexity, seemed to realize he was in the middle of some running joke, and he shook his head.  "I'm afraid I don't usually paint portraits, Sakurazuka-san. I more commonly do landscapes and city scenes.

"I'm more at home painting the aspects of the world that don't change so easily.  Any people that appear in my art are purely incidental."

"What about the ghost?" Hokuto chimed in.  "I don't think a ghost would be considered incidental."

Seishirou kept his gaze steady as he waited for Ajibana's reply. The created elements of his art were not normal, not anything a normal painter would be able to achieve.  And the Sakurazukamori was quite certain that this artist was well aware of that.

Naosuke smiled at Hokuto.  "I've always thought of ghosts and spirits as being less changeable elements, rather like Mount Asahi.   The mountain doesn't change, just our perception of it. The same is true of the spirits."

Subaru opened his mouth as if to disagree, but halted when he felt Seishirou's hand on his arm.  He looked up questioning to see his friend shaking his head slightly.

"Well, we should be going," said Seishirou. "Thank you for receiving us so late, Ajibana-san.  We apologize for disturbing you."  He smiled again, the very picture of a smooth debonair gentleman. "Your work is truly extraordinary."

Ajibana Naosuke was somewhat startled by the abruptness of the announced departure, but he hid it behind a polite smile of his own.  "It was no trouble at all, Sakurazuka-san.  A pleasure."  He shifted his smile to Hokuto.  "And it was a pleasure to see you again, Sumeragi-san."

He waved them off, his smile still pinned in place. Once they had disappeared from sight, however, his smile faded from his face and his eyes narrowed.

He got the feeling that Sakurazuka Seishirou knew something.  Not suspecting some ulterior motives, but the man actually knew that he was causing the problems. That was impossible. He'd been very careful—all the canvases that had depictions of the "accidents" had been destroyed. There was no way anyone could know.

Still, the artist couldn't quite shake the feeling that Sakurazuka-san did know, no matter how impossible it was.

Out in the street, Subaru turned to Seishirou and tipped his head cutely to one side. Amazingly, his hat stayed on despite the fierce draft that was blowing. "Why did you stop me from disagreeing with him? He was quite wrong. Spirits do change, Seishirou-san. If they finish with whatever is holding them back, they can move on to the next life," he said, expanding on what he knew was the truth.  

Seishirou merely smiled and shook his head. "Yes, his ideas about spirits were misconceived. But nothing you could say to him would have changed his mind. He seemed quite firm in his convictions. Besides, I thought we'd stayed on long enough, since he didn't wish to accept the commission to paint you," he said. His expression suddenly changed and a mischievous grin spread on his face. 

"And I'd have to say that attitude was definitely misguided. How could anyone not want to paint _you_, Subaru-kun?" Seishirou's expression was a mask of theatrical pain.

Hokuto's laugh rang out through the still mountain air. "That's absolutely right, Sei-chan. It's just too bad! Perhaps you could get a proper artist to do it when we get back to Tokyo!" 

"Nee-san!"

"Hokuto-chan has the right idea. I shall certainly make a point to seek out a good artist when we return." 

The light banter continued and Subaru was soon too lost in protests to remember his original unease. 

Notes:

Those of you at Fanfiction.net, thanks for reviewing. You can click on our profile for links to our websites. Thank you.


	6. Chapter Six

Disclaimers as per previous chapters

Chapter 6

It was much later, past midnight, when Subaru's eyes snapped open and his brow furrowed. Sleep had failed to come to him while he tossed and turned on the bed. He was seized by the urge to look once again at the sketch that Hokuto had brought home, which had sent them traipsing all over town that evening.

Subaru was suddenly quite certain that whatever he was missing was in that picture.

It wasn't difficult to slip out of bed and walk to the door unnoticed; Subaru had always been quiet, and Hokuto slept quite soundly. The Sumeragi smiled at the image of his sister sprawled across the bed before slipping through the door into the sitting room.

The sketch was neatly laid out on the coffee table. Subaru squinted at it, and then turned on a nearby lamp.

It looked exactly the same as it had that afternoon—black and white, the buildings and trees and people all had sharp, crisp edges, rather like a photographic image. It was a representation of what had been there when the artist had drawn it.

Except for one element.

Subaru's eyes narrowed as they lit upon the slim, ethereal figure clinging to a post and staring off after someone.

It was the same "ghost" he'd seen earlier that evening. Everything was beginning to click into place.

Absently, Subaru wondered if he'd be able to dress without disturbing Hokuto or Seishirou-san. This was something that he needed to deal with alone. 

And right now. 

An alarmed expression flittered across Subaru's face when he remembered the sketches he'd seen on Ajibana Naosuke's table. _Oh no!_ If what he was thinking was true, then… 

Subaru quickly shook his head to set the thought aside. He simply had to get to the artist quickly before it was too late. 

A dark silhouette moved within the shadows, watching the Sumeragi as he did his best to sneak from the suite. It was as he had expected-- Subaru had figured things out, and as usual, the young onmyouji couldn't wait. And as usual, he was thinking of fixing things by himself.

Seishirou's lips turned up in a thin smile. He was sure this evening was going to prove amusing. 

As he hurried through the hallways of the resort, Subaru's thoughts flew at top speed as he did his best to process all the bits of information that he had. The Sumeragi had never encountered someone possessing such magic before and he was very curious of how it could work. He was so preoccupied that he remained blissfully unaware of the dark shape shadowing him, moving swiftly from vantage point to vantage point in total silence.

It wasn't long before he was back at the front door to Ajibana Naosuke's house. Pulling his coat tighter around him as he shivered in the freezing night air, he knocked on the door. 

He was surprised when a fully dressed Ajibana answered the door. He'd been worried the man was already in bed

"I'm so sorry to bother you at this hour, but I feel I must talk to you," Subaru said, bowing with profuse apology. "May I come in please?" 

Ajibana eyed the young man carefully. Of the trio that he'd encountered today, Sumeragi Subaru was the last one that he would expect to show up at his front door. Thinking quickly, the artist reached a decision. Nodding, he stepped back and allowed the unassuming young onmyouji in.

He could tell by the cool, professional look in Subaru's eyes that he'd underestimated him by assuming that his older friend would be the one to confront him. It had been an understandable guess. In Ajibana's opinion, that Sakurazuka-san was obviously very protective of his teenaged friend, and also very smart. He had probably seen through what Ajibana had been doing. 

Now the artist was forced to revised his assessment of Subaru. The Sumeragi was clearly not lacking in intelligence either.

The artist inclined his head and waved at Subaru to help himself to a chair. "I won't insult your intelligence by asking why you're here tonight, Sumeragi-san. I think we are both well aware of the reason."

Subaru's eyes widened slightly. He was surprised that Ajibana was so direct about the situation. He had been expecting, considering the artist's methods, at least some denial. Since he wasn't denying anything, Subaru launched into the question on his mind.

"Why are you doing this, Ajibana-san? Don't you realize that with what you're doing—you could kill someone!"

"It's unlikely that it would come to that, Sumeragi-san; I've been very careful." He turned and stared out the large picture window. The moon was full, and the snow on the slopes sparkled in the light, while the ski lift cast a shadow across the mountainside. "But even if it had caused the death of someone, it would have been a necessary sacrifice.

"I think that the destruction of something so beautiful for the sake of humans is wrong."

Subaru considered Ajibana's words carefully before he replied. "That's true, that the destruction of nature is a tragedy, Ajibana-san, but don't you think that the destruction of humans for the sake of that nature is equally tragic? Besides," he noted as he came to stand beside the misguided artist. "Don't you think the mountain is still beautiful now?"

"It's not the same," said Ajibana Naosuke flatly.

"No," said Subaru softly. "But nothing ever remains the same." It was the truth as he saw it. Nature was ever changing and adapting, even if it was a process humans couldn't comprehend because it took far too much time for it to be obvious.

Naosuke stood silently for a moment, and then snorted softly, obviously disbelieving Subaru's words. His mouth curved into a bitter, angry smile.

"I don't know that you want to stand there, Sumeragi-san."

"What do you mean, Ajibana-san?" The artist's tone alarmed Subaru

The artist shrugged. "I finished one last canvas after you and your friends left earlier tonight." He smiled at Subaru, and it was a smile that was disturbingly happy. "It's the one leaning against the wall."

Subaru turned to look, and froze.

It was a painting of violent natural beauty, painted with Ajibana's customary bold strokes and colors, and it depicted destruction in motion in a way Subaru wouldn't have thought a two-dimensional piece of art would have been able to.

It was a painting of an avalanche, and Ajibana's cottage lay directly in its path.

Subaru did a double take. No, not only was the cottage in the path of the avalanche, the entire ski resort was depicted as being swept away in the masses of falling snow and ice. It was a horrific scene, strangely captured in frozen stillness, like a photograph for its realism but all the more frightening for the fact that Ajibana didn't paint any people into it.

The gasp from the Sumeragi rang eerily loud through the room. "No, you can't do this! An avalanche on the ski resort will kill hundreds of people, no thousands!" 

Ajibana shrugged. "That's a risk they took when they came here. The mountain is a wild place. It shouldn't be harnessed for man's enjoyment. This way, everything will be clean again when it's over."

Subaru reached out an unsteady hand as if to stop him, although he couldn't think of an immediate way to impede Ajibana from triggering his magic. "But you'll die!"

Ajibana smiled at him bitterly, his lips a thin line pressed tightly together. "That's my sacrifice for mankind defiling this place. I am but one person with some small ability. My loss shall be of no import," he said fatalistically.

Subaru was too horrified to reply, and simply stared as Ajibana advanced on the painting. The magic was in the artist's hands—Subaru could see the power gathering between the man's fingertips.

"I suppose," Ajibana said with a bright smile on his face, "that you'd like to know how this works. Intellectually speaking, of course."

Subaru remained silent, too shocked by Ajibana's strange devotion.

"I first noticed it when I was a little boy," the artist continued, "when I had first begun to draw.

"In those days, I was drawing portraits of my stuffed animals. My favorite was a stuffed dog named Izumi."

Ajibana cast an amused glance at the green-eyed teenager standing stock-still beside the painting. He was just so young. "Did you have any stuffed animals, Sumeragi-san? Of course you did, everyone did.

"It was a long time ago, but I remember that I wished that Izumi was alive, and I remember brushing my fingers across his picture. And then he was alive."

Ajibana stared fondly off into the distance. "I miss Izumi. Would you like to meet him?"

Subaru was quite certain now that the events of the evening had sent Ajibana Naosuke completely over the edge. "Meet him?" he squeaked, his eyes darting wildly around the room as if expecting a stuff toy to come bouncing out.

"Of course," smiled Ajibana. His gaze skimmed about the room, finally lighting upon a small scrap of sketch paper. He snatched it up. "Now let's see," he murmured to himself. "Izumi had floppy ears and curly fur, and his nose was a little short…it's pretty rough, but that's what he looked like." The artist poked the pencil back in his ponytail, and arched his fingers, brushing them lightly across the paper, and muttering under his breath.

Before Subaru could blink, he heard barking from behind him, and a ball of golden fur launched itself at Ajibana.

"Izumi-chan!" proclaimed the artist. "Oh, I missed you, too." He smiled over the puppy's head at Subaru. "But why don't you keep Sumeragi-san company?" 

On cue, the dog ran over to Subaru, who absently patted him on the head. Subaru could feel the rough strands of the dog's fur beneath his silk gloves and the warmth of its body's heat. It was entirely life-like.

"Good boy. Nao-kun has work to do now." The artist straightened away from his sketchpad. 

"No!" said Subaru, jumping in front of the painting and blocking Ajibana's path. "I can't let you do this."

"Sumeragi-san," began the artist sadly. "This is what I have to do. Can't you understand that?"

Subaru's eyes narrowed and darkened, and he shook his head. "No."

"That's a shame," said Ajibana in reply, his brown eyes freezing over. "Now you're in my way. 

"If you're not going to move, then I'll have to resort to more drastic measures." As fast as lightning, he grabbed a small statue from a stand and clubbed Subaru on the side of the head. The young man, caught off guard, fell to the floor, where his skull slammed against the tatami. "I really didn't want to do that, you know, Sumeragi-san," he noted sadly. The young onmyouji lay unmoving. 

"And it was certainly a resounding mistake on your part," said a deep and familiar voice from behind him.

Ajibana whirled to hear the voice. "You! How did you get in?" he demanded in alarm of the dark form before him. 

The Sakurazukamori stepped forward into the light. He looked like a salaryman in his dark suit and long black coat. But no salaryman had that dangerous aura about him or that expression on his face. It was the implacable expression of a hunter confronting his quarry. There was no mercy in his eyes. He was quite different from the alert but mild mannered man who had visited earlier this evening.

"I'm afraid I can't let you complete your plans," Seishirou said and casually waved a hand. 

Ajibana lurched at his painting but before his fingertips could come into contact with it, the canvas sparked and exploded in a ball of fire. The young artist screamed and stumbled back in horror, watching his beautiful creation rapidly reduce to ashes.

"That's what Subaru-kun should have done," Seishirou said, almost to himself. "He's really too kind-hearted." 

"You! You're not normal," Ajibana gasped, seeing the stranger in a whole new light. Watching Seishirou closely, he came to a sudden conclusion. "Why are you doing this? You don't care about what happens to people at all!"

The Sakurazukamori nodded. "That's right. I don't. But I couldn't have you hurting Subaru-kun." He bent down and gathered the young Sumeragi into his arms, cradling him almost tenderly. 

"You could have destroyed the resort and I wouldn't have stopped you. But Subaru-kun had to get himself involved. And now that you've seen me, you can't be allowed to continue," Seishirou informed him, without the slightest trace of emotion. It was as if pronouncing the death sentence on the artist was the same as telling him that the sun would rise tomorrow. 

"Who are you?" asked the artist, his growing terror showing clearly on his face as he attempted to back away.

"I am the Sakurazukamori," Seishirou said, still wearing the same amused smile. "Would it comfort you to know that one day, the earth itself will rise up and call for her defenders who will destroy all of humanity? It's just not the right time yet." Seishirou's smile twisted ironically.

Ajibana's eyes widened. "What are you talking about? Such a thing is impossible." He snorted. "I am the only one who cares enough about the Earth to make this kind of sacrifice." 

"One thing you should remember," said Seishirou as he carefully set his charge down in a convenient easy chair, "is that there are always more people who are exactly like you, and they all think they are different." He smiled as he raised his arm, dark power crackling between his fingertips. "Aren't you glad you learned the truth before you die?"

Ajibana said nothing in reply. But then, he didn't get another opportunity to speak. His body slumped and he fell bonelessly backwards into a heap. 

Seishirou smiled down at his handiwork, reveling in a brief moment of job satisfaction, before turning back towards the still-unconscious Sumeragi.

"I should take you home, Subaru-kun, before your sister awakes and finds us both missing," he murmured. "She would probably come to quite a misleading conclusion." The smirk spread on Seishirou's face.

He trailed a gloved fingertip down Subaru's pale face, leaving a streak of bright red blood in its wake. The contrast was amazing.

"You always do look so beautiful in red, Subaru-kun," he said as he picked up the unconscious teenager and walked out of the cottage. He sent a flicker of his magic behind him and the house promptly burst into a flaming inferno. Seishirou didn't even bother to look back as he strolled down the driveway. He was too preoccupied with the body in his arms.

"You should wear red all the time. But you know," the Sakurazukamori continued conversationally to his unconscious opposing star, "you really must learn to use all that power you have seething inside you.

"You're cute, Subaru-kun, but you'll never win this bet unless you start doing something a little more interesting."

Notes:

Ajibana's magic ability is somewhat along the lines of what Watari (from Yami no Matsuei) has – that is to draw a picture and give life to it. Hope it wasn't too strange a concept for anyone to believe. 

Xan: This really was my favorite part with Sei-chan being all Sakurazukamori and killing anyone who dares harm his Subaru-kun. And needless to say, it wouldn't be a Tokyo Babylon fic to me without some blood smearing done on Subaru's face by Seishirou. ^__^ 


	7. Epilogue

Epilogue

Subaru was warm, wonderfully warm in his bed when he woke. Sunlight was shafting through the windows, telling him that it was already late in the morning. The sound of a door opening and a cool draft brushing against his face confirmed that someone had come into the room. 

Sitting up, he saw his sister bouncing in with Seishirou. 

"Subaru!" she exclaimed excitedly. "You're awake at last! We've been waiting for you for ages! But Sei-chan wouldn't let me wake you!" She stuck her tongue out at Seishirou in mock disgust, although Subaru could tell from her broad grin that she was pleased by his lover-like action.

Seishirou merely smiled merrily back at her. "It was a long journey for Subaru-kun yesterday. I'm sure he must be tired." The vet turned, bent down and ruffled Subaru's hair affectionately.

For a moment, Subaru sat blinking while his mind tried to piece together what was wrong with this picture. Then a strange thought, or was it a memory, crossed his mind. What was he doing in bed? Didn't he leave the resort last night to talk to Ajibana-san? The memory receded and it seemed to him that he couldn't have left the resort. Not if he was currently in his pajamas and in his bed. It had to have been a dream… hadn't it? It was strangely hazy and vivid all at the same time.

Seishirou hid a secret smile to see Subaru frowning in confusion. He was sure the boy would dismiss last night's events as a figment of his dreams. The Sumeragi was very good at rationalizing his way out of the strange things that happened to him—almost as if he was unwilling to see the truth.

It was one of the things about him that fascinated Seishirou—his overwhelming, if subconscious desire to remain innocent to the extent that he refused to believe what his mind was telling him.

"I had a very strange dream," muttered Subaru as he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. "I remember getting up late last night, but I don't remember going back to bed."

Hokuto's eyes narrowed in mild concern. Was her little brother sleepwalking? That could be dangerous. She turned to Seishirou and slapped him lightly on the shoulder. "You need to keep a closer eye on Subaru-chan, Sei-chan!" she scolded.

Seishirou laughed with pure amusement. "I always take care of my Subaru-kun, Hokuto-chan," he said with utmost sincerity, managing to keep the irony out of his voice.

Subaru wasn't entirely sure why that comment made him feel like paling and blushing simultaneously, but he pushed the feeling away with a will. He made a soft choked, embarrassed cough and dashed into the bathroom to change.

He left the door slightly ajar, so he could hear Hokuto and Seishirou bantering back and forth, because their voices somehow always comforted him.

But Hokuto turned on the radio, and they all heard something that had the opposite effect.

_Top of the news, the small mountainside home of local artist Ajibana Naosuke has burned to the ground, in a mysterious tragedy early this morning._

_Ajibana-san was noted mainly for his realistic landscapes of the __Mount__Asahi__ region, though locals say that in recent weeks he had switched to creating street scenes, sometimes with a whimsical or supernatural element._

_The authorities do not suspect foul play._

"Ajibana-san," whispered Hokuto. "Oh, Sei-chan, that's horrible! And we just saw him last night!"

Seishirou patted the girl's shoulder. "It's a tragedy, Hokuto-chan. But sometimes these things happen." The man's voice was practical and comforting all at the same time.

Subaru stood frozen in the bathroom, his emerald eyes huge and dilated, staring back in the mirror.

He looked as if was almost remembering something, but then it disappeared, and his eyes narrowed to their more normal size.

"What a terrible thing," he murmured to himself absently. "What could have happened?"

Subaru bent over the sink and squeezed his eyes shut. He knew what the artist had been doing; it had come to him in the middle of the night. He was certain he had been responsible for the incidents at the resort. But he hadn't deserved that kind of death.

No one deserved to die that way.

He sighed. It was his duty to inform Ebisawa-san that the problem was taken care of, but he didn't want to ruin the memory of Ajibana-san. 

He could only hope that the manager didn't ask any questions he couldn't answer.

***

Much later, a subdued Subaru stood at the train platform, staring wistfully back at Mount Asahi. It hadn't been an easy interview, but in the end, Ebisawa-san had accepted Subaru's word that all evil magical manifestations were gone. 

Hokuto hadn't been at all happy about leaving so quickly. She continued to protest, saying neither Sei-chan nor Subaru had the chance to ski or had anything resembling a vacation yet. But Subaru, for once, had overridden her protests with surprising strength and insisted that they leave. Something about the mountain made him ill at ease, and he didn't want to be in the area any more.

Seishirou laid a hand on his shoulder, startling the Sumeragi out of his haze.

"There was nothing you could have done for him, you know."

Subaru looked up into Seishirou's warm amber eyes. Seishirou always, somehow, seemed to know how he was feeling, and what to say to make him feel better.

Subaru doubted that he would ever know many people who were able to do that for him. He smiled weakly at his friend.

"I know, Seishirou-san, but I still wish I could have done something." He bent down to pick up his bag, and started to walk towards the locomotive, before he stopped and turned.

"But thank you. You always help me."

Seishirou said nothing, merely nodding his acknowledgement and smiling before he followed after the Sumeragi to board the train.

He wondered, as he watched Subaru try to stow all the items Hokuto had insisted they bring on the train with them, if he'd really be tired of Sumeragi Subaru after a year. He continued to be interesting.

And perhaps someday, Subaru would manage to make him feel something for him.

Notes: 

Xan: *wink wink* I leave it to you to think of who it was who put Subaru back into his pajamas. At any rate, it was a wonderful writing with Mizu again. Thank you for reading this far. *bows*

Mizu: And hey, I wrote CLAMP again! (Though Xandra had to drag me away from Paradise Kiss in order to do so) It was, as always, great fun to write Tokyo Babylon—there's something wonderful about the chemistry between the Sumeragi twins and Seishirou. 


End file.
